DoubleLine Capital · Oct 2, 2026 · 28m · 22m saved
With Jeff Mayberry, host of DoubleLine Minutes · Ryan Kimmel, host of DoubleLine Minutes
Technology was the only S&P 500 sector to post a gain in September, and Microsoft alone accounted for roughly 70% of the index's entire third-quarter return, according to DoubleLine's weekly market recap.
Most of the market's headline numbers for the quarter looked fine on the surface — the S&P was up 2.3% — until DoubleLine's Jeff Mayberry and Ryan Kimmel stripped out the handful of names actually doing the work.
"Microsoft alone contributed 70% of that quarterly return for the index so I think it'd be pretty safe to classify that as a relatively narrow market breath for definitely the month and the quarter as well." — Jeff Mayberry
Mayberry and Kimmel run DoubleLine's weekly markets podcast, DoubleLine Minutes, walking through the firm's own read on equities, rates, credit and commodities each week.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it. 28 minutes of audio, 6 minutes of reading.
Here are the 6 takeaways that matter.
Key Takeaways
Technology was the only S&P sector positive in September, up 5%, while materials, financials and utilities all fell more than 6%
Microsoft alone drove about 70% of the S&P's entire third-quarter return
The 5-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2007 this week, with the 10-year at its highest since 2002
High-yield spreads widened to 318 basis points, the widest since the March USRN-conflict drawdown
A trading desk was stunned to learn triple-C bank loans trade near 20.5 percentage points over SOFR
September payrolls added just 29,000 jobs against a 90,000 consensus, with little market reaction
1. Tech Carried a Weak Quarter
The S&P 500 fell 35 basis points in September, a modest decline that masked much worse conditions underneath. Technology was the only sector in the black, up 5%, while materials and financials each fell more than 7%, consumer discretionary and real estate each fell six and a half percent, and utilities fell 6%.
Tech's gain was large enough on its own to keep the index from a much steeper September decline
Over the full third quarter the S&P rose 2.3%, with energy up more than 16% and healthcare up six and a half percent, while utilities fell 12% and industrials fell 10%. But Mayberry said the quarter's headline return was still driven almost entirely by a handful of stocks.
"Microsoft alone contributed 70% of that quarterly return for the index so I think it'd be pretty safe to classify that as a relatively narrow market breath for definitely the month and the quarter as well." — Jeff Mayberry
Year-to-date, the S&P is up almost 13% through the third quarter, with technology up 36% and energy up 40%, while communication services and consumer discretionary are the market's only real laggards.
